DH comes home!

Good news in the DH work arena. He's done with training early , and he'll be coming home this Friday! It's not permanent, he'll still be working away from home, but his schedule from here on out will be very good for commuting. 3 full days/nights away, and 6 days/nights home (repeat schedule). He'll be flying back and forth, so that's an added financial strain on top of his pay reduction, but it's something we're willing to do to be together for now. He begins this new work schedule on Sunday, September 27.

The sad news is, our little (make that big) doggie will still be living away. It's just not affordable to bring him back, especially with our impending move, and the possibility of both DH and I being gone at long periods of time (while on maternity, I plan to go be with my family to be closer to where DH is working and not be alone with a newborn by myself). It's quite unbelieveable how attached we are to our doggie. He's like another son to us, and we are going to be so sad away from him. I also believe he'll be sad away from us too, especially DH. You can see quite the definitive mood change in our doggie when DH is around and not around. I'm comforted somewhat with the thought that we'll soon be together and that for now, he's got my family to keep him company daily.

This is our furbaby:

But we must count our blessing where we can. DH will be home more and that's what matters most. =) I see him tomorrow and he'll be here for over a week! That's quite a long time for us!! =) I'll probably drive him bananas (I'm quite the little princess now-a-days), like many wives do, but truly, we enjoy each other's company (or at least I believe he enjoys mine), so it'll be really nice to come home to him again. =)

28 weeks and crib is set up!

We made it another week! Here's my 28 week belly photo and interestingly, there was no growth in belly inches:



Newer symptoms are a feeling of heaviness in my lower belly/uterus. It's a little difficult to describe. Its not BH but more like I'm just getting bigger (Kaua is, I mean) and I can feel his weight more. Occassionally, I feel sharp pangs in my lower sides, which I'm sure is round ligament pain, as well as an occasional sharp pain in my left butt cheek, which I'm pretty sure is sciatic nerve pain. I usualy only feel these when changing positions (from sitting to standing or vice versa) and I read in WTE that that's normal. Once in a while I feel a little dull cramp-like achy pain, which I'm not sure what its caused by. i'm not alarmed at it b/c it's dull and occasional. I think it could be Kaua kicking me in my cervix, but I dont feel a kick low, which would further indicate its him. Perhaps he's sitting on my cervix sometimes? Not sure, so I'll call my doctor if I get concerned and really monitor myself when I feel that (make sure it's not preterm labor or something). I'm also starting to notice pregnancy fatigue more in the sense that I'm feeling less energetic than usual. Even in the mornings, I'm feeling tired and sometimes like I wouldn't mind just staying in bed. We also set up Kaua's crib this weekend and it looks great! (despite not having any bedding).

As we put the crib together (mostly DH doing the work with me occassionally assisting), I noticed the difficulty in getting up and down from sitting on the floor and overall I just felt the need to sit more often. One of my friends also came by to drop off newborn sized diapers that her daughter no longer fits, so we got a nice little starter supply of diapers. She also dropped off a cute little blue bathrobe for Kaua.

Previously, the room that Kaua's crib is in had a futon bed/couch. We were able to sell that for $30 over the weekend (it wasn't in the best of conditions so the money was a nice bonus since we were just going to throw it out), so now Kaua's room has the crib and diaper changer in it. I like walking by it and peeking in and seeing the nursery developing (though not as fancy and visually appealing as I'd prefer). It's just so exciting that we'll be having a child in a couple months! (And a little overwhelming too.). There's a lot more I want to do to the room, but I'm hesitant b/c we're moving, so I'm a litte saddened at the thought that we wont be living here for very long to enjoy it.

Which brings me on to another topic. Our move. You all know that DH is currently working away from me, so we're commuting on the weekends until I can move to be with him. The good news is, he is finished with his training early and will be put out on the field soon. The bad news is, he was just told that he will not be stationed where we thought he was going to be stationed, meaning his schedule will not be very accomodating to commuting back and forth. He's appealed to his chief about the transfer and the chief is trying to see what he can do, but there's no guarantees at this point. There are good things and bad things to this new twist in our situation.

Good news is, this may hasten my permanent move to be with DH quicker. And when I move, the schedule will work out just fine. With the prior situation, I initially planned to give birth here then move to be with DH at my leisure while he communted back and forth till then. Now, I will still give birth here, but may move shortly thereafter (maybe even not returning to work after maternity leave). The bad news is almost purely cosmetic-ish in that I'm reluctant to move out of our "home" and move in with my mom (though I love her, it's so hard to move back home after owning your own). DH, myself and Kaua will be living in a 3 bedroom with mom and her BF. Though that's still plenty of room for all of us, it wont be our own home filled with our stuff chosen specifically for our own comfort. We'll be sharing everything. I wont get to do a nursery with Kaua b/c the spare bedroom is currently my mom's office. Kaua will likely be rooming in with me and DH. It also may be a while before we can afford to get our own place, so we'll be with my mom for probably a couple years. I will also be leaving my job earlier than desired. I work for a great company and am disappointed at having to leave them and eventually look for new work (in a market which is not as great as it is here). Leaving my job will also put additional financial strains on us since we'll be living off of DH's already reduced income alone. Plus we'll all have to go under DH's medical plan which may be difficult at first based on the enrollment timing rules for the healthcare provider. Also, although DH and I will be together (yippee!!!) in one place as it should be especially when raising our first child, it will take some adjusting to the new town since we've built our lives where I'm currently living (all of our friends are here, there's a lot more to do here in the big city, etc). I really love where we live now, so I'm going to miss it. I also wanted Kaua to spend some time (just for a little) in the town which is his namesake (or at least the weather of the town), but such may not be the case since we may be moving so soon.

Either way, we've got some really decisions to make soon, depending on where DH gets stationed, and coupling this with the impending birth of our first child, is somewhat overwhelming at times for me.

But thankfully, so far Kaua is healthy and that's all that really matters. The rest is all negotiable. So for that I praise God. As for the rest, I'm going to pray to God to direct my path when determining what the best choices are for our family.

Crib came!

I order the crib on monday from Ama.zon, and it came on Thursday. Crazy! Who knew it'd arrive so fast? =) Too bad DH isn't here till next weekend to set it up. But I'm going to fly to visit him tonight and will be there till Tuesday! Yippee!! I'm so exited. I miss him and my doggy, even though I just sent them off on Monday as well. It'll be nice to see them and the rest of my family. I'm really looking forward to spending time with them all. =)

I take my blood glucose screening test today. I wont find out the results till my next PNA which is next week Wednesday. I really hope I pass. I asked the doctor whethere there was anything special I needed to be doing to prepare for it and she said no, just dont eat candy or drink soda right before the test. I attended a birthday BBQ for a friend last night and there were a TON of desserts, my pregnancy weakness. I hope that doesn't alter the results.

DH is moving...

sniff, sniff*

I just booked DH's flight to ......away. He's trasferring fire departments which requires a move. I'll eventually move to be with him, but that wont be until after the firecracker is born and after we sell our house. So it'll likely be next spring sometime.

He'll be leaving next week Monday at 2:30pm. It's really not a huge deal b/c I'll be going to see him that following weekend, then he'll be flying back to see me the weekend afterwards. And we'll probably do a lot of the flying back and forth thing as long as our finances can allow it. But it's still so sad. My DH will no longer be a full time resident in our town. He'll be a parttime resident. He's staying with my family in my original home town, so ultimately the sacrifice is worth it b/c it's what I wanted...to move back home and raise our children there among my family.

but I just never knew of the sacrifices we'd have to make (though be it small in the scheme of things) to get there. DH is moving away. We'll do the "commuting" thing. He's taking a big pay cut for the first year...and we'll have to sell our house for a loss. =( (Though I'm praying to God that it wont be for a loss, and heck, God does work miracles as long as I believe). And I'll have to find a new job, which is scary since the job I have now is with a really really great company. The exciting thing is eventually we get to look for a new home, one where hopefully we wont be stretched to the limits in finances like we are now with this home.

The other really sad thing is that along with DH, he'll be taking our 2 year old american bulldog. It's a good idea, since our doggy is such a big dog that I cant walk him for fear of falling (when he sees another dog that sets him off, he gets crazy and tuggy and I have a hard time controlling him, even with a super duper heavy duty choker chain collar). I love our doggy, and he requires a lot of attention and exercise to match his high energy, so he's much better off with DH and my family where he'll have daily attention from my nephews. But the sad thing is, I'll be all alone in my little home without DH or a doggie. =( sigh.

It's only temporary. I keep telling myself that. But still, it's hard to be away from your best friend. At least I'll have little Kaua here with me and in me to keep me company. I hope Kaua gives us lotsa warning for when he's going to come so we can make arrangements for DH to be home when I go into labor. I will, however, have backup friends whom I'll be able to call should I need a ride to the hospital and DH's not here. Yikes!

I took a 25 week belly picture on Sunday, but need to post it. Only 3 more days and then I'll be in the 2 digit day count down (less than 100 days) till my due date! Crazy!

Kaua surprised DH

So the firecracker (aka Wyatt Kaua) is definitely a mover and a shaker again. And whenever DH is home, and the firecracker is moving, I tell my DH (and sorta force him) to come feel him moving (why is it that DH isn't glued to my tummy everytime Kaua moves like I would think I would be if our roles are reversed?). So last night, as I was putting DH's hand on my belly, the firecracker really really kicked hard. For me, Wyatt doing significant movements is becoming a normal thing, but for DH, all the other movements he's felt have been generally light taps. But nope, this one was a full on limb pushing out and pressing against my belly and brushing it. Upon feeling this, DH jumped and made a weird face and pulled his hand back. He was so surprised at the force of the movement. He said it was like an alien was in my tummy. It cracked me up!!! I told him that that was how our son has been moving for a while now, as if he wants to jump out my belly, and he was just so amazed and in awe. I couldn't stop laughing for a good 2 minutes at DH's surprise. That moment was definitely priceless and something I want to treasure (hence the bloggy entry).

I am just LOVING this pregnancy and feeling this little guy move all the time!! He definitely makes me giggle when he's so active. And he's active generally up high on my belly, which according to something I read somewhere, could indicate that he's head down and feet up because the feet are generally in the location where you feel most movement. I dont know if that's true, but if Kaua is head down, then that's fine by me. We definitely want him in the right position when its time for birth. (Which shouldn't be for at least another 12 weeks...so sit tight baby boy!).

Anyways, that's all in the pregnancy chapter for today.

MIL leaves in 1 week (wahooo!) and my mom is coming to visit for the weekend, beginning tomorrow! Yay! (I love my mommy!).

Movement milestone

On Saturday, July 25, 2009, at about 10:30am (20weeks 6 days pregnant), DH felt the firecracker move for the very first time. It was awesome! I was sitting on the couch in the living room reading (the baby bargains book) and DH was on the computer in the adjoining dining room. As I was reading, I was leaning back, which allowed my forearms to rest on my belly, sort of as a prop (yes, I'm getting that much bigger...21 week photo coming up in next post). Then I felt baby boy kick in what appears to be a favorite spot of his, on the right side of my belly, up high. He did it again, and I felt him on the outside (on my forearm). So I called DH over, didn't say anything and and just placed his hand on that spot. (I had been trying to get DH to feel him move for the past few days with no luck). And the little boy did us proud, he kicked twice in about 20 seconds and each time I said, there, did you feel it, and DH, said, yeah, he did! We were stoked! It almost brought tears to my eyes to be able to share that moment with him. It's something I've always been looking forward to in pregnancy, and the moment finally arrived. It was awesome! We were both so thrilled. Anterior placenta's got nothing on me. =)

I consider this to be such a significant milestone, something much more so than when I first began to feel the baby move because recognizing baby's movements was something that eventually crept up on me. What began as feeling potential gas bubbles eventually developed into a realization that that was baby moving. But the first time that DH gets to feel baby, now that's a real milestone; it went from nothing to DH getting to feel his first child (and son) move. That's such a beautiful thing to share with the man you love, your best friend. I'm sooooo thankful and grateful to have been blessed with that gift and I know that I'm lucky to have had that experience.

I feel like this is just a preview of what more joy is in store for us...all those awesome moments where we'll look at our newborn son sleeping and gaze in awe at the beauty we've created together and wonder in excitement as to what's yet to come. This little life will be depending on both of us for the next two decades at least! OMG! lol. (Ok, I'm not going to get carried away with this, I'll get back down to earth now).

Baby boy's movements are still not fully pronounced, but I'm feeling them more often. There has just been two times, both when I'm lying on my right side, when he's kicked hard enough to make me jump (both times he also kicked my ticklish spot on my side, so I think that has something to do with causing me to involuntarily squirm). Other than that, his kicks are still pretty light, like someone tapping inside of me, and it's been difficult for me tofeel his movements from the outside. I admit that I am slightly grateful that his kicks are still light because I know there will soon be many a time when his movements will be waking me up or causing me some other discomfort. For now, they're just light rumblings and taps in my stomach. He's kicking now as I type this blog!

Felt the little firecracker again

I tend to do this often, I post about one thing, and the very next day, the little firecracker does the exact opposite to prove me wrong. (Hope this isn't a trend growing here. =) On second thought, if he wants to do things to NOT make me worried, then I'm all for it!)

I felt him move today! Yay! I felt a few little kicks or taps just now. I also could be imagining this, but I think I also felt more movement afterwards, like rolling around or swimming or something that made me envision baby was moving. I don't know, I just felt like there was a bit more than a tap. It's all pretty cool and makes me smile because I'm pretty sure it's him. It's all still really light though, almost like a twitch feeling in my ab muscle. It's also a little higher up then the last week or two, but that makes sense because my uterus is growing (signified by my belly which seems to have "popped" within the last few days). A few brave people have even been commenting on my belly and asking whether I'm pregnant. (Lucky for them, and me, I am! Yay!)

All of your comments on my last post were reassuring (Thanks!), especially Jamie's comment about how she would feel movement, then not much, then movement again. Makes me feel less insane to hear about how others have similar concerns and thoughts.

And Nikki, it's a date! (I hope our children dont mind us setting them up on blind dates this soon!)



I received my udder cover in the mail yesterday. It's not very great. It appears kinda small, as if someone may get a free show if they're looking at me from the side while I'm breast feeding. The part that supposed to go around your head or neck to hold up the cover is not very convenient either. The strap is held together by those two half moon ring circles, you know, those belt buckle looking things that I never know how to use. I'm glad this thing was free, but now I'm regretting the $8.95 I had to spend to ship it here. Ah well, you live and you learn, perhaps I'm just not using it right b/c it looks pretty big in the photo.





In other news - the MIL - is here with us. It's not so bad, because I'm rarely home when she is and vise versa. She's really a very nice lady too. One of my little pet peeves though is that she doesn't offer to help clean or do other little things around the house that I would think would be appropriate if you're being someone's house guest for TWO MONTHS. Like last night, DH cooked dinner for him and her - I had dinner away from home with some friends - and when it came time for cleaning up, only DH was in the kitchen putting away food, washing dishes and cleaning up while she watched t.v. I felt bad for him, so I went in to help. She didn't do anything or even offer assistance. Perhaps, she's just trying to stay out of the way? Maybe, as we grow more comfortable with each other, she'll offer to help....or maybe that's just the way it goes with her, where if you cook you clean? (This has happened before when we've invited her over for dinner and she doesn't offer assistance to help clean up.) Hmmm, not quite sure if I want to broach this issue with DH just yet. I'll see how it goes over the course of the next week or two. I plan to do some big house cleaning on Friday when I have the day off and DH is at work. If she's at home, I wonder if she'll offer assistance? I probably would decline it, but it would be nice to be asked.

Ok, enough with the MIL bashing. I feel guilty already, because she really is a nice person.

I forgot!

OMG...As I was reading through todays LFCA, I realized that I FORGOT my 2nd unfulfilled due date. It was April 19th, this past Sunday. How can you forget something like that??? Well, I guess I know how, by getting pregnant and having pregnancy brain and going on a trip in 9 days to NYC, DC and Virginia!!!! Oh and having a wonderful little bean whose heart is just beating beating away in your little tummy. And have morning sickness (or as I call it, all day light nausea) and extremely sore boobies and going hiking with your hubbsters and your loveable hugable doggie.......and being treated like a princess b/c you're carrying the hubsters child. Anyways, my 2nd unfulfilled due date came and went, and I was almost none the wiser.

Yesterday, I got my first baby item ever as a gift. It's making this all the more real for me. More about that in tomorrow's post.

Feeling normal.

It's amazing what a difference one day can make. I woke up this morning and I feel completely normal. I must have definitely been feeling morning sickness yesterday, because now that I feel back to normal, I can tell the difference. Am I worried that I dont feel any symptoms today? Not one bit (ok, well maybe just a teeny, tiny, tad bit, but really, I'm not going to give in to fear at all). I've read that symptoms can come and go, and today must be a "go" day. That's fine by me. =)

Things with DH are back to normal as I suspected. You know how marriages go, you have mostly good days, but once in a while you have an argument that turns into a bad day (or for us, a bad evening). We're getting really excited with upcoming plans for a two week vacation we're taking from April 30 through May 14 (27 days from now!!). We're heading to NYC, Washington DC and Virginia. The excuse is to see DH's mom and sister who recently moved to Virginia, but the real reason is to go to NYC and DC. We both have never been (well I went to DC when I was little, but dont really remember much), so we're super excited! This will be our first trip since our honeymoon last fall. To get us in the mood, we're having a movie night tonight, where we'll watch our home video footage from our honeymoon. We've never really watched our video footage from the honeymoon so it'll be good to get into the excitement of traveling and get some pointers on how to take a better home video.

We'll be staying in two very nice hotels while in NYC and DC and we're really excited because we dont normally splurge. (Actually, we didn't splurge this time either, we're using a family rate from my Uncle who works in a hotel in the Waldorf-Astoria hotel line!). We've also got tickets to see the New York Yankess v. the Boston Red Sox (a rivalry which I hear is the game to see!). We have plans to watch a Broadway play too, not sure which one, but I've heard great things about Wicked. I've also written to my local congressperson to try and get us a tour in the White House. There's so much to do and so much to see, I'm sure we'll be jam packed with stuff.

And on the telling people front... Last night I had dinner with a very close group of girlfriends. We call ourselves the pho-5 because the 5 of us always go out to eat pho about once a month and have been doing so for a few years now. I did not tell them about the prior pregnancies and losses until a few weeks after the events (except for one of them who is a very close friend who knew about them as they were ongoing). However, when I told them about my history, they were soooo supportive. Hence, this time around I made the decision to keep them in the loop because ultimately they'll be my support group if anything should go wrong (which NOTHING WILL so I dont even want to type that) or my cheering squad when everything goes right (WHICH IT WILL). When I told them my news, it was soo cute. I waited all through dinner to get the courage, then finally told them. They were sooooo excited for me and one even yelled out loud in the restaraunt. They now know how much I want to become a mommy and have seen the difficulties I've faced. It was nice to hear someone else's excitement about my pregnancy. I guess I haven't really let myself get excited yet, so it was fun to hear others be excited for me.

But in the excitement department, I have big plans to be excited. In about 11 days, I will be one excited little momma, equipped with a perfect ultrasound photo of our little miracle.

morning sickness??

I think I'm experiencing morning sickness. Well, a slight version of it, but more so than before. I just feel yucky and nauseous. I'm not gagging, I'm not barfing, but I'm just feeling yucky. It's kinda like a light version of motion/sea sickness. It started this morning, and it hasn't gone away yet (after an hour or so). Generally, I'd feel a little nausea, but it would come and go, and it would definitely go after I eat something or force myself to not think about it. However, this time, none of my prior tactics are working. I had my breakfast (a fruit and yogurt smoothy) and its still here. I feel lightheaded and dont want to make any sudden movements with my head. And I opened my email, and one of the WTE emails I got this morning mentioned a brocolli omelet and all I can think is YUCK!!! bleh. This is kinda cool though, if this is morning sickness. Never really had it before, and not even quite sure if this is it now, but I'm hoping it is....

Other than this weird feeling, the only other real symptom I have at 5weeks 1 day is sore nipples. Yup, just the nipples, not the boobies.

Wait, now that I think about it, I may be moody or irratable. I've been able to keep it under control, (or so I think), but my DH got the worst of it last night. I freaked out about him being on the computer too much (which I think he is), and it ended in a yelling match and him sleeping in our guest bedroom. Things are were ok in the morning, a teeny bit tense, but I hate those kind of arguments. We've got a great relationship and generally get along very well, so when that happens, it sucks. Anyway, I feel sort of uncomfortable airing our dirty laundry, but I guess it's all in the name of sharing my pregnancy symptoms. He's on duty tonight, so I wont see him until tomorrow night when I get home from work, so by then, things will be back to normal.

The other symptom I think I have this week is that I'm hungry, all the time. I'm a little obsessed about my weight and working out, so my goal is to eat well and not gain too much unnecessary weight this pregnancy. So when I do eat, i try to eat healthy. I've been focusing on eating at least one raw fruit and one raw vegetble for my snacks. So far this week, I've been able to keep it up.

12 more days till we see our little one on ultra sound!